Silicon bronzes are characterised by good mechanical properties and by high corrosion and mechanical wear resistance. The process of sleeve casting by means of the centrifugal casting with the horizontal axis of the mould rotation was analysed. The assessment of the influence of modification and centrifugal casting parameters on the microstructure and mechanical properties of alloys was carried out in the hereby work. Zirconium was applied as a modifier. Speed of rotation of the mould was the variable parameter of the centrifugal casting. The investigation results were summarised on the basis of the microstructure analysis and mechanical properties determination: UTS, proof stress, A10 and BHN. The experiment aimed at finding the information in which way the modification together with changing the pouring parameters influence the mechanical properties of the CuSi3Zn3FeMn alloy.

As part of the studies conducted in the field of broadly understood casting of non-ferrous metals, selected results on the impact of variable additions of copper and silicon in aluminium were presented. A series of melts was carried out with copper content kept constant at a level of 2% (1st stage) and 4% (2nd stage) and variable contents of silicon introduced into aluminium. The crystallization characteristics of the examined alloys and the percentage of structural constituents at ambient temperature were obtained by modelling the thermodynamic parameters of individual phases with the CALPHAD method. The microstructure of the obtained alloys was examined and microhardness was measured by the Vickers-Hanemann method. The alloy properties were assessed based on the results of mechanical tests, including ultimate tensile strength (UTS), hardness (BHN) and elongation (E). The machinability of the tested alloys was analyzed in a machinability test carried out by the Keep-Bauer method, which consisted in drilling with a constant feed force.

The obtained results clearly indicate changes in the images of microstructure, such as the reduction in grain size, solution hardening and precipitation hardening. The changes in the microstructure are also reflected in the results of mechanical properties testing, causing an increase in strength and hardness, and plasticity variations in the range of 4 ÷ 16%, mainly due to the introduced additions of copper and silicon. The process of alloy strengthening is also visible in the results of machinability tests. The plotted curves showing the depth of the hole as a function of time and the images of chips produced during the test indicate an improvement in the wear resistance obtained for the tested group of aluminium alloys with the additions of copper and silicon.